Common spaces in Athens in times of crisis: urban commoning as a creative process

Can we consider the commons as creative forms? Which processes shape their character of novelty? In order to answer these questions, the creativity of the processes of commoning will be considered as the result of the collective exploration and the practical implication of people with their environments. Building on the socio-ecological perspective of Ingold (2000, 2007, 2011), the idea of common spaces will be connected to the concepts of “threshold” and “porosity” in the work of Stavrides (2010, 2014) and the discussion on cultural creativity by Favole (2010), Liep (2001) and Wagner (1992). Based on the results of fieldwork carried in Athens for two months in 2015, the analysis focuses on three practices of creation of the common emerged in the Greek capital in recent years: the Navarinou Park, the Agros Elliniko and the Free Self-Managed Theatre Embros. The context where these common spaces have emerged is a city characterized by social injustice produced by the streak power of economic and managerial elites. Common spaces emerge therefore as forms of collective creativity when facing the abstract logics of streaks.

Common spaces in Athens in times of crisis: urban commoning as a creative process

Can we consider the commons as creative forms? Which processes shape their character of novelty? In order to answer these questions the creativity of the processes of commoning will be considered as the result of the collective exploration and the practical implication of people with their environments. Building on the socio-ecological perspective of Ingold (2000, 2007, 2011), the idea of common spaces will be connected to the concepts of “threshold” and “porosity” in the work of Stavrides (2010, 2014) and the discussion on cultural creativity by Favole (2010), Liep (2001) and Wagner (1992). Based on the results of fieldwork carried in Athens for two months in 2015, the analysis focuses on three practices of creation of the common emerged in the Greek capital in recent years: the Navarinou Park, the Agros Elliniko and the Free Self-Managed Theatre Embros. The context where these common spaces have emerged is a city characterized by social injustice produced by the streak power of economic and managerial elites. Common spaces emerge therefore as forms of collective creativity when facing the abstract logics of streaks.